Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My iguana hatched a couple of weeks before Easter. Now he is constantly shedding. The last couple of weeks when he finishes shedding he starts again the next day.

I want to handle him but I am afraid of damaging his skin. He is always shedding. I want him to be handleable (if thats a word) but if this keeps going on I wont be able to. He used to be nice, but today when I tried to pick him up he whipped me for a while. Then I finally picked him up and he tried to bite me the whole time I was holding him. This is worrying me because I dont want him to be violent when he gets bigger.

Any advice?

Start giving him daily warm soaks/baths, if you havnt already been doing so. If his dead skin is coming off in flakes/patches easily,then the skin underneath is strong and fully normal. Dont tear stubborn skin off of him, but give warm soaks and time.
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Sarah
IgWhippedInFlorida
groups.yahoo.com/group/IgWhippedInFlorida/

It won't hurt him to be handled while he's shedding, as long as your careful not to pull off the shed that's not ready to come off yet.

They do stress when they're shedding, though, so it's recommended to keep handling minimal. They also tend to be really cranky. Soaking him in the tub will help the shed along much faster, as will misting him regularly. If that's the case, you might be able to find some non-shedding weeks in between where you can handle him more. How long is it taking him to shed? I found that when I started soaking Xander, his shedding time was reduced from 2-3 weeks to about 1 week from the time the first peel started to the time when the last peel stopped.

Alika